File:Andreas at Col-CC (19499811368).jpg

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s ‘iriss’ mission will be unlike any other spaceflight for ESA. It will last only 10 days and the whole mission is planned and executed by the team at the Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

Andreas visited the centre in July for the last time before his launch in September to meet the team that will be working round the clock to make his stay on the International Space Station as comfortable and efficient as possible.

In only 10 days Andreas needs to adapt to living in a new house without weight while he performs 15 complex experiments.

For ESA and partner control centres in America and Russia, his mission comes in addition to the normal duties during regular astronaut Expeditions. The German centre is staffed day and night by experts who monitor Europe’s Columbus space laboratory, with extra people working for iriss.

The computer screens to the left show data on all the elements inside Columbus, from ventilation to air pressure, from temperature to energy consumption. Andreas will perform almost every experiment inside Columbus.

Top left is the schedule for the International Space Station crew at the time. When Andreas arrives with crewmates Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov he will be the first astronaut to test a newer, more interactive scheduling tool in space.

Both Andreas and the teams at the Columbus Control Centre will need to adapt and interact efficiently, with any problems or change of plans handled immediately.

“Teams are getting ready for the final part of the preparation of Andreas’s mission. We went through all the details mission to ensure nothing is forgotten” comments ESA’s mission director Roland Luettgens.

“We are looking forward to his mission in a few weeks.”

Follow Andreas and his iriss mission via andreasmogensen.esa.int

Credit: ESA–J. Harrod CC BY SA IGO 3.0